Green Dawn
by Implacable Insanity
Summary: Will-centric. Following his life as Captain of the Flying Dutchman, with both the good and the bad. Will must learn how to captain the ship of the dead, and still remember to live.
1. Chapter 1: Sunrise

**Author's Note: It's a Will centered fic, based solely on the events at the end of AWE and life afterwards on the Dutchman. I'm not sure yet whether it will have full length chapters, or drabbles, we'll see how it goes. Rated T for safety. Willabeth.**

**Green Dawn**

**Prologue: Sunrise**

Pain. That lone feeling trickled through the black haze William Turner found himself in. An all-consuming pain, searing through his chest, his only link to the outside world. A world Will struggled to remember, struggled to return to, grasping onto the pain like a lifeline to accomplish that goal. Distantly, he heard screaming, a female voice, wrought with pain and grief. Who was it? Will couldn't remember, but he knew she was important. Vitally so. Ellie? No…. Marie? No, that wasn't it either….

Elizabeth.

That was her name, the name that had always kept him going, kept him fighting, the sound of it caressing his ears. And with the remembrance of that sweet name brought a shocking clarity, a rushing of knowledge. Davy Jones, Jack, the chest, the Dutchman, his father and the oath he swore to him.

Davy Jones.

Davy Jones' had stabbed him! So this was dying, realized Will, resigned. Jones' had run him through with the blade he himself had crafted, had slaved over for weeks to reach absolute perfection. That blade was beautiful, perfectly balanced, Will knew.

But what was the chanting he suddenly heard? What were they saying? Will didn't know, couldn't concentrate, but it felt like he was missing something, some vital link in the chain of events that had brought him here, to his death. _What. Was. Missing_?

A sudden ripping, searing sensation across his chest drove those idle thoughts from his mind. What had happened? He was already dying, why injure him further? Or was it something else he had felt?

His heart thudded loudly in this eternal blackness, as though trying to stave of it's imminent demise. His heart…. Who had stabbed Davy Jones' heart?

Jack, he supposed. It would have been to much a temptation for the young pirate to resist.

The thudding was growing distant, as though he was moving away from it. Or it was moving away from him….? No, that was ridiculous. Will listened intently, hearing the faint thudding finally silence, to far out of range. Or perhaps it had simply given up it's pointless struggle against what Will knew to be the inevitable.

Strangely, though Will knew he was dying, and could no longer even hear his own heartbeat, the world almost seemed to be growing clearer, the haze starting to drift away. No, it really was, he realized, blinking up at the worried face of his father. Things were in focus now, he was no longer trapped in a strange mist of darkness. But it wasn't right, either. His father had no trace of the sea life previously found on him, he looked completely normal, albeit a bit pale. And the light wasn't right either, he noted, looking around. It was green, murky, as though…… As though they were underwater, Will realized with a jolt.

"William. William, can you hear me?" His father's voice drifted to him, sounding slightly muted. Swallowing, Will nodded, looking up at him. Bootstrap smiled, a tight, worried smile, and extended his hand to Will.

Will stared at it, trying to comprehend what had happened. Where was he? No, he realized abruptly. There was only one place he could be.

The Flying Dutchman.

Looking back up at his father, he took the hand offered, and helped pull himself up. Swaying slightly, he glanced around, noticing the silent crew staring at him. Feeling self-conscience, he looked back to Bootstrap, the later watching him, a peculiar look on his face. As though he was proud of him, but also feeling terribly guilty for something….

"Where's Elizabeth?" Will asked, needing to have reassurance that, no matter what had happened, or was going to happen, Elizabeth was safe.

"She's safe, on the Pearl. Jack took her before we fell below"

Will nodded, still confused, but at least glad to know his... Wife was safe. Will felt giddiness at the thought. Wife. Elizabeth was his wife now, even if the ceremony was a bit… Different. Shaking his head, trying to clear it of thoughts of her beautiful, smiling face, he turned back to his father.

"And Davy Jones?"

Now he knew something was wrong. Truly wrong, by the way his father looked away before answering.

"Dead. You stabbed the heart"

Will reeled back, not understanding. He had…? But when? Jack had had the heart, he remembered hearing him talking to Jones, vaguely. He had been a bit preoccupied with Elizabeth and dying and all.

"I…. What? Jack had the heart" He whispered, reaching blindly, feeling as though a storm was upon him, with no way out. His father slowly shook his head.

"Aye, Jack had the heart. But you were dyin', and he guided your hand true. 'Twas you, in the end, whose hand held the knife. 'Twas yours that had to replace it" With this, Bootstrap glanced over to the intricately designed chest. Will followed his gaze, horror dawning on him. So that's why he'd heard it growing distant, why he no longer felt it now….

Snapping his gaze back to his father, suppressing the questions and protestations he felt welling inside himself, he let his tone grow hard.

"And what of Beckett?"

"Still sailing. Ready to take down the Pearl and the pirate fleet it leads"

Will nodded, determination pushing his own dread to the back of his mind. Time later to dwell on such thoughts, now it was time for battle.

"If I stabbed the heart, then I'm the Dutchman's captain?" He wanted to be sure, before he began bellowing out orders.

"Aye" His father nodded, and small smile blossoming on his face as he realized where Will was going with this. Will smiled grimly, heading up to the wheel of the Dutchman.

"Then take us above. We have a fight to win"


	2. Chapter Two: Future Horizons

_Author's Note:_ So two warnings: One, this has minor suggestive content. Two, Will has a moment of complete and total, woe-is-me angst. Sorry, I hadn't actually meant to put it in there, but stories have an annoying habit of writing themselves. Anyway, hope y'all like it. And fyi, next chapter WILL be going into more details about Will's new job, and it will have some canon characters who are dead. That was suggested to me, and it's a great idea, so I'm going to try and run with it :)

_Disclaimer:_ Yes, I forgot to put this in chapter one. That was me, trying to sneak off with the rights, but I just can't pull off Jack very well. So I'll leave it to Johnny Depp. Not mine, never was, never will be. Thanks!

**Chapter Two: Future Horizon**

William Turner, newly made Captain Turner, stepped hesitantly out onto the deck of the Flying Dutchman. His new status both as Captain and as the legendary Sea Lord still made him uneasy. He knew ships, it was true, and over that past few years had learned the ins and outs of piracy, against his better judgment.

But nothing prepared him for this.

Will walked over to the Dutchman's rail, and leaned himself against it, resting his arms across it, staring out into the night sky. It was the day after his death and unexpected resurrection, the day after everything went to hell. The day after his last day on land for ten years, and the day he'd made love to Elizabeth for the first time.

Will smiled slightly at that thought, her toned skin under his hands, rising up in his mind. His last day may have been hell for the most part, but he'd gotten Elizabeth. He'd married her, and he'd shown her just how much he loved her. That made everything else worth it.

And tomorrow he would start his duty. They'd left the living world at sunset there, arriving at world's end at dawn. Plenty of time to start, he knew, but he'd needed a day to himself, and to learn some of the tricks to his new ship. The crew had understood, and as it was only one day, and they still fully intended to do their duty, nothing ill would befall them this time.

And so he'd spent the day wandering the ship, either alone, or with the company of his father, learning the ship's layout. He knew it fairly well from his, rather abrupt, visit there, and from his own experience with ships he could figure out the rest.

Will absently traced the scar on his chest from where Bootstrap had cut out his heart. It was still a jolt to feel no heartbeat there, only silence. Emptiness. He didn't know if he'd ever get used to it, and he had been deathly afraid of Elizabeth's reaction to it. But it hadn't bothered her at all. And her acceptance allowed him to relax finally, to begin his own slow acceptance of the events. He was bound to the Dutchman, willingly or not, and his refusal to accept that would only lead to misery for him and his crew.

A creak behind him alerted him to the presence of a new person, intruding on his vigil. As he knew few crewmen would come up to him when he was so obviously seeking solitude, as they were still trying to figure out if this new captain was as bad as Davy Jones, it could only be his father, who had no such qualms.

And sure enough, he saw Bootstrap lean himself against the rail next to him, mimicking his own posture. Neither said a word for several minutes, merely basking in the cool breeze and each other's presence.

"I'm sorry" The whispered apology reached Will's ears, tight with remorse and self-loathing. Will was not expecting that, didn't honestly believe his father had anything to be sorry about. He'd made his choices, as had Will. Once, what seemed such a very long time ago, he hadn't understood why his father was never there. Bill Turner had come and gone during Will's very early years, never staying much more than a week or two at a time, and leaving for as long as three months. Then one day he'd left, and he'd never come back. He remembered that day very clearly, remembered his mother screaming and crying at Bill, remembered his father's gentle hug before boarding the ship that had carried his away into the mists. He hadn't understood then, hadn't understood why his mother had held him tight for hours after his father had left, hadn't realized the decision his father had made. He'd just thought it was one more trip. He didn't know he'd never see his father again until years later, when Jack Sparrow tricked him aboard the Dutchman. But Will understood now. He knew why Bill had done what he'd done. The sea had called to him, and no matter how much he loved his son and wife, no matter how much they loved him in return, he simply could not live without the sea. And as much as Will sometimes wanted to, he could not fault his father for that passion.

"Don't be. You have nothing to feel sorry for" Will stated simply, still facing the black sea. Bootstrap shifted, turning slightly to look at Will, though Will made no acknowledgment of it. His eyes never left that mysterious sea, the one that stole men's hearts and souls. The one that had taken his father away. The one that had taken _him_ away from Elizabeth. And the one that, in a way, considering the look in her eyes whenever they sailed, had stolen part of Elizabeth's heart, even before he had become captain of the Flying Dutchman.

"Aye, I do" His father said quietly. Will sighed, finally looking away from the gentle waves, turning to his father. Although Will would much rather drift in his own thoughts, his father appeared to have no interest in dropping this conversation. And despite what his father believed, Will owed it to him to at least grant this one courtesy.

"No. You don't. You made your choices. You chose to leave, and I do not fault you for that. And you owe no apology for what has happened more recently" He stared his father in the eye, brown eyes fierce and unyielding. On this, he would never back down. On this, he would not allow his father to take blame, where blame was not due.

"I'm actually grateful to you, in a way. If you hadn't left, I'd never have come looking for you. And if I hadn't, I'd never had met Elizabeth"

Bootstrap almost smile. Almost. But he looked down, and away, in a distinctly submissive and guilty way. Will sighed. His father was clearly not giving up his self proclaimed guilt quite yet. Glancing out to the sea, he noticed the sun starting to rise. Or was it set? He wasn't sure he truly knew anymore. He wondered if he ever would.

"Father" His voice carried a firm confidence that made Bootstrap jerk his head up. Will was a bit surprised at that, but perhaps his father wasn't quite used to him. Or perhaps it had come out sharper than he'd realized. In any case, he was grateful for the reaction, as it allowed him time to get his point across before Bootstrap succumbed to his guilt once more.

"You did nothing to warrant an apology. Mistakes were made and promises were broken, yes. But what's done is done, and dwelling on the past will not change the future"

Bootstrap looked startled, clearly not expecting Will's blunt, nonjudgmental statement.

"Aye. Mayhap you be right. But I still owe you an apology for…. Your captaincy"

Will stilled at his words. It hadn't crossed his mind, hadn't occurred to him that his father could be apologizing for _that_. Ice ran through his veins at the thought of Bootstrap, cutting his son's own heart out. Yes, he'd forgiven Bootstrap. He'd never have held that against him, no matter how bitter he might become about it. The Dutchman needs a captain, after all. And he was grateful to have a second chance with Elizabeth, to be able to prove to her how much he loved her. But that gruesome detail, that earth-shattering reality would never cease to stop his world whenever he took the time to truly think about it. That one fact would forever shadow his new life, no matter how much he strove to accept it.

"The Dutchman needs a captain" Will whispered, his voice velvet soft against the lightening sky. Bootstrap suddenly looked uncomfortable, fidgeting slightly where he stood. Will was stock still, unable to move, his throat suddenly constricted. It was too much, these past few days. And this reminder of all that he'd lost, and subsequently gained, was a slap on an already raw spot. He'd died. _Died._ And resurrected, as captain of a ship both legendary and feared throughout the world. And as much as he tried to look on the bright side, tried to hold on desperately to the image of Elizabeth's smiling face, as a reminder of why he must go on, right now he felt like letting it all slip away. He wanted no part of this curse, he simply wanted to be home, with Elizabeth. If home had become the sea, their life as those of pirates, so be it. At least they'd still be together, and he wouldn't be bound to a ghostly ship with it's gruesome purpose.

But then, Will realized suddenly, looking at Bootstrap, he'd never have had this chance to get to know his father. Maybe he'd lost Elizabeth for a time, and he'd never stop missing her, but at least he had Bootstrap. He could learn what it was he'd lost, reacquaint himself with the father he'd lost to the sea so many years ago.

"If ye'd like me to leave…." Bootstrap said, still shifting nervously, obviously wary of Will's sudden stillness. Will shook himself out of the trance he seemed to have fallen in and gave his father a small smile.

"No need, Mr. Turner. Watch the sunrise with me"

Bootstrap smiled, relieved. Will hadn't accepted his apology, nor had he dismissed it, at least not for his unfortunate state of heartlessness, but he hadn't shunned him. And for Bootstrap, that one chance, that one hope was enough to last an eternity. An eternity getting to know his son, to make up for his past mistakes. He'd never been the father he should've been, had let the sea run through his veins far more that he should have. But right here, right now, standing on the deck watching the sunrise with his son, he didn't feel quite so overburdened with his past. Will was right, the past is the past, it's the future you must look to. And Bootstrap knew it would be quite a future sailing under his son.


End file.
